


First Aid

by Honeybadger_489



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-02-04 08:43:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18601048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeybadger_489/pseuds/Honeybadger_489
Summary: David and Max have never really gotten along despite David's best efforts and really Max seems to want to have nothing to do with him...Which is why its rather a surprise when, after being missing for about a day, he returns and seeks out David's help to get patched up after going through...Something. But its clear that Max isn't happy about this one bit and that makes things a tad more harder.Takes place after Episode 3 (Scout's Dishonor) of Camp Camp.





	First Aid

**Author's Note:**

> I return from beyond the grave...With a Camp Camp fanfic! While I still want to finish Wayward Scion at some point, my muse for it has been a little dead (which is why I kinda...Stopped updating. Whoops) but I have decided to expand my fanfic collection with some old ones. This one, for example, was written almost a year ago before season 3 of Camp Camp had started airing.
> 
> Hopefully I will return to Wayward Scion soon as I do really want to get further in it but in the mean time I will attempt not to disappear like I did before and try to find some old (and new!) fanfics to put on here every once in a while. Expect mostly RT fandoms as that is my main focus at the moment but who knows if I'll get ideas for other ones.
> 
> Oh, I also have a twitter! I'm not super active on it either but I am trying to change that so follow Badger1k2 for my silly drawings and also maybe ideas for later fanfics I will share!

David would dare to say that this favorite time of every day was the morning. Waking up and knowing it was a brand new start to everything - great adventures to be had, memories to be made. And of course, a summer camp was the perfect place to do it all. 

As his morning alarm went off, his eyes was open in an instant as he sat upright. “Good morning, Gwen!” he called out, already hearing her soft moans of protest from her room. He knew she wasn’t quite the morning person but that was alright, a good cup of coffee would wake her up and they would be ready to start the morning activities!

But, he would also be lying if he wasn’t worried about a single thing; Max. Out of everybody at Camp Campbell, it was Max who caused the most trouble. The others at least all seemed to enjoy being there - even Max’s friend Nikki was a great example of what a camper should be like...Although she was a little too excited about the wildness and didn’t seem to care for the dangers it held.

But David was certain he could one day get Max to enjoy Camp Campbell, but it was a little trickier when the camper in question was missing. It had been a bit of a worry to wake up the previous day only to find that Max, Nikki and Neil were gone. Nobody was certain where the three friends were and nobody had seen them leave. Nikki and Neil had at least shown up near the end of day...In the claws of an eagle she had befriended but neither knew where Max was but both had admitted that finding him would prove a challenge given when they had last seen him.

And it was worrying to be sure. Max was clear he wasn’t happy here but Camp Campbell was in charge of his safety. And besides, David really did care for Max’s happiness even if the little bugger made it hard some days. It...Also Mr. Campbell wouldn’t be happy to hear that he was missing. Not a camper had gone missing since…

Well, it was best not to dwell on that.

With a shake of his head, he clambered out of his bed and into the shared common room. He knew Gwen well, it was going to take her a bit to detangle herself from her sheets so it was up to him to get everything ready. And so, he went around his daily routine. He started with preparing the coffee, knowing that the first thing Gwen was going to do was head over to it. 

With a steady hum, a familiar tune that he rarely got to sing out loud, he moved around the common room as he gathered up any loose pieces of paper and started to sort through what would be needed for the day. There wasn’t any big activities planned for the day but he was sure that the campers could make their own fun if need be. So many of them had such active imaginations!

There was a creaking sound as Gwen pushed open her door, stumbling into the room with a tired yawn. “Gooood morning, Gwen!” David greeted again as she moved past him, only giving a tried grunt in response as she was drawn toward the scent of freshly brewed coffee. “I’m so excited for what activities we have planned for today! I’m sure everybody wi-” he was cut off as there was a swift knocking at the door. 

It startled him, it wasn’t often that any of the campers ever came over to their cabin, mostly so early in the morning. He had been expecting Gwen and him would have to wake them all up and he found himself beaming at the idea that one or two of them had come to say hi. Or maybe even say good morning! “Oh! I’ll get that!” he chirped as he darted across the room, not noticing that Gwen hadn’t even bothered to look up from her pot of coffee.

“Goooood morning, camper!” he beamed as he threw open the door, his eyes automatically falling toward the ground due to how short most of the campers were. The familiar narrowed green eyes that stared back at him caused him to freeze, a sigh of relief following shortly after as he clutched the papers to his chest. “Oh, Max! We were so worried when we couldn’t find you yesterday!”

“Sure.”

The quick, short and rather snappy responds didn’t surprise David in the slightest but it still brought a frown to his face. “I’m seriously, Max. Why, Gwen and I were even more terrified when Nikki and Neil returned but had no idea what had happened to you!” he explained as he knelt down. He was about to put a hand on Max’s shoulder when he froze, a look of horror flashing across his face as he got a good look at Max.

One of Max’s eyes was almost swollen shut, bruises forming across his face. He was dirty, ragged, and beaten. Both of his arms were wrapped tightly around his chest as if he had a broken rib or two, one of them hovering tightly over the back of his shoulder. 

“What happened?” was all that David could manage weakly, his hand hovering just over Max’s shoulder as he fought the urge to pull him into a hug. 

Max, however, didn’t respond as he just stared at David with a hard look...But David saw the truth that he was hiding. He could see tears that threaten to run down Max’s cheeks, fighting back against them so hard. It...It had to be so embarrassing for Max, he realized. To come crawling to the person that he saw as his worst enemy for help.

David just stared silently at Max for a few moments before he glanced over his shoulder. “Gwen?”

His co-counsel peered up from her cup of coffee, awareness finally in her eyes as she gave him a worried frown. “Yes, David?”

“Do you think you can handle the morning activities by yourself?” he asked as he stood up, stepping away from the door as he held out the notes for the day for Gwen to take. “Tell Nikki and Neil that Max is back - I’m sure they are out of their mind with worry as well - but isn’t feeling well after his...Er, adventure. He will join them once he feels he is up to it, alright?”

Gwen hesitated as she glanced between David’s face and the outstretched papers before she leaned to the side, no doubt taking a good look at Max who was still standing in the doorway. There was a long moment of silence before she downed the last of her cup of coffee and planted the empty cup on the table with a sigh. “Alright. That...Shouldn’t be a problem. Just...Don’t take too long, alright? I can only handle Space Kid on my own for so long.”

David nodded his head eagerly as Gwen brushed past him, taking the papers out of his hands as she stepped from the cabin without another look toward either him or Max. “Of course! I’ll be there to help you before you know it!” he called out after her, but she didn’t grace him with a response. He waited, blinking there until she was well out of sight before he turned to look at Max, who had taken the time to slip in. 

“Now, onto you! Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“Not really,” Max grumbled as he peered around the cabin, no doubt taking it in for the first time. His arms were still wrapped around his chest, but as he walked past David, the council got a good look of...Oh dear, was that a bloodstain on the back of his sweater?

“A-Are you sure? I’m all ears, Max!”

The camper came to a complete halt, silence hanging in the air between the two before he turned and glared up at David with all the anger he could muster. “Pretty fucking sure. I really don’t even want to be here but I figured you would drag me in here to get patched up anyways the moment you saw me so why not just deal with the torture first?”

Honestly, he didn’t really believe that. Watching Max move toward the couch, he could see that the kid was in a great deal of pain. Yes, he would have dragged Max to get those injuries looked at but he was certain that Max coming here was more about him just getting patched up then ‘speeding up the inevitable’ but he chose not to say anything as he turned to get the first aid kit.

Luckily it was always well stocked...Even if he had to buy some of the supplies for it out of his own pocket because Mr. Campbell had forgotten to spare some expensive for it. Honestly, there were times were David wished that he saw the funds for the camp himself instead of just having the bills be paid by Mr. Campbell’s own account. At least then they could maybe buy some better supplies but he was sure Mr. Campbell was certain in what he was doing. 

He settled down onto the couch next to Max, placing the first aid kit on his lap as he flipped it open and started to go through the supplies. “Well, if you are not going to tell me what happened then I at least need your help. I’m going to need you to take off your sweater and shirt so I can take care of that wound on your back,” he said, before he paused as he studied Max’s face as the camper scowled at him. “...I’ll also go get some ice for your black eye. Here, take these wipes and try to clean off some of your injuries. It's going to sting but that only means it helping heal!”

David pushed himself off of the couch, leaving Max to grumble to himself as he started to wrestle with his sweater. Honestly, David never understood why he was always wearing it. It was summer, yet every day he wore the same blue sweater. Then again, he was always wearing his yellow bandanna. 

Reaching the mini-fridge, he opened it and shifted the ice cream that he and Gwen had saved for a bad day or one of their soap operas nights out of the way to the bag of ice Gwen always had at the ready in case she had one of her terrible headaches. He always thought it was a little silly, being prepared that much for when it happens but he supposed she just didn’t have the spirit to keep up with the kids like he did.

Turning back to Max, he saw that he had managed to get his sweater and shirt off, both having been simply tossed to the ground as he worked to wipe off the dirt and grime that covered him. There wasn’t many cuts on Max’s chest which was good, thought it did certainly look like he had broken a rib and his arms looked raw like...Rope burns?

The more he looked at Max, the more he got worried over what had happened in the rough twenty four hours he had been missing. Nikki and Neil hadn’t been super helpful with information once they had gotten back. Nikki had admitted that they were trying to escape but refused to name their ‘source’ and Neil had explained that they had been on a boat with an ex-Wood Scout but that they had been backstabbed and...He blinked, realizing that perhaps Neil had been being literally about that judging by the bloodstain on Max’s back.

He pouted, pushing himself to his feet and he crossed the room back over to Max, holding out the ice pack. “Here, I’ll finish cleaning out your cuts and then we will patch you up.”

Within seconds, the ice pack was gone from his hand as the young camper snatched it up with his free hand. He started to press it against his eye, before he tugged away with a hiss as he gave the pack a glare like it had personally offended him. 

“I know, I know, it's cold but it will help,” David said as he settled back down next to Max, picking up some fresh wipes as he studied the wound on Max’s back. It certainly looked like a stab wound, although it was already scabbing over. It wasn’t great that over an entire day had passed without the wound being checked out. It had stopped bleeding, that was good but it was doubtful it was cleaned or anything so there was always the risk of infection. 

He shook his head as he started to carefully clean around the injury with the cleansing wipes, flinching when Max drew away with a startled hiss of pain. “Sorry, sorry!” he apologized, wishing that Gwen was here. She was much tougher than him, she wouldn’t mind bandaging up Max like this - she was always so level-headed but he felt like Max was his responsibility. Besides...It was like a...Bonding activity! It wasn’t pleasant to be certain but maybe at least they could get to know each other.

Max...However didn’t look to be open for talking as he settled back down with a only a grumble under his breath, now fully pressing the ice pack to his face as he pointy stared in the opposite direction than David. Other than a hiss of pain or a wince, he didn’t say a word as David finished cleaning the wound and started to put on the antiseptic cream.

Finally, the silence became too much to bare and David broke it with a sigh. “You do know you can trust us, right?” he asked, allowing the question to hang in the air for a while. He wasn’t expecting Max to respond, he was well aware of Max’s feelings on adults even if he didn’t understand them. After a few moments, he spoke again. “Gwen and I, we do care for all of you kids. If you don’t want to talk about what happened, that’s fine. Just know...That we are here to listen. To help.”

“Sure. Whatever,” Max snapped after a few more seconds had passed, his head tilting downwards as his gaze fell. “Can we please finish this up? This is really fucking weird you know, me being shirtless in all.”

He shook his head but he supposed that was about the best response he had been expecting. Putting the antiseptic cream away, he picked up a bandage and a roll of gauze. As he finished patching up the wound and started to carefully wrap the gauze around Max’s chest, making sure to account for the no-doubt busted ribs, he spared a glance toward the discarded shirt and sweater. 

“We have some small Camp Campbell shirts you can borrow, I’m not letting you put your shirt and sweater back on while they are bloodied,” he said, as he finished up with the gauze. He heard Max take a breath, ready to argue against not getting to wear his shirt and sweater but David cut him off before he could speak. “I’ll get them cleaned, fix up the holes and get them to your as soon as possible, alright? It's just not sanitary and is already risking to permanently stain.”

“...Fine,” Max sighed after a few moments, sliding off of the couch before he turned to stare up at David. His expression was still guarded, although he looked more at ease then he had been when he had first arrived at the cabin. For a second, his expression dropped for a moment as he spoke in a softer tone. “...You mentioned Nikki and Neil. Are they okay?”

David blinked as he started to tuck away the first aid supplies into the kit, nodding as he closed it with a click. “Yes! They returned out of the blue yesterday, saying that they had somehow ended up at the Flower Scout’s camp. They didn’t say much more than that, only that they didn’t know where you were following your attempted escape the night before. They were pretty worried about you.”

Max’s expression soured at the moment of the Flower Girl scout, grumbling something under his breath that David missed but sounded to be annoyance than anything else as he rubbed his arm with his free hand. “That’s good,” he finally said as David got to his feet and gathered up the loose shirt and sweater as he headed over to the desk.

It only took a small amount of rummaging to find an extra Camp Campbell shirt in Max’s size, passing off the article of clothing to him. Max quickly pulled it on, taking a moment to look down at himself before he hung his head with a sigh. “I look like a complete dork in this.”

“Awwww, don’t be like that, Max! I think you look great! Why, I am sure the other campers will be so jeal-”

“I’m just going to stop you right there,” he said, tilting his head to stare up at David with a sharp frown. “I don’t look great, the others will not be jealous, in fact I am pretty certain they are going to laugh.”

David blinked as he straightened up a bit, his frown being much softer as he took the moment to think. He always thought having a Camp Campbell shirt was one of the most amazing things but he did suppose that most of the other campers didn’t share his love for the camp. Max maybe had a point. “Well, if you really think that way then you can...Just stay in here for now.”

Max seemed honestly thrown off by that, blinking as he stared at the counselor with large eyes but David continued on before he could say a word. “After whatever adventure you had, I’m sure you aren’t up for any camp activities and while I am sure the others will miss you, I’m also sure you need rest. I’m going to go help Gwen finish the morning activities, then work on getting your shirt and sweater taken care of. I’ll also send over Nikki and Neil the moment they have free time. Alright?”

There was a long bout of silence as Max just stared at him, caught completely unaware by the offer. His eyes narrowed, a look of distrust flashing across his face but he still turned and headed back to the couch. “...Sure. I mean, if it gives me time from you then I am all for it,” he said, although his words were slow as if he was carefully deciding which ones to say. Clambering onto the sofa, he leaned back with only the slightest wince. 

He quickly recovered thought as he threw his hands behind his head, kicking his feet out as he gave David a smug, happy look. “I get to kick back and relax while everybody else has to do their boring morning activities! I’m calling this a win, David! Heh, at least I know that even if my escape attempts go a little off, I still get a break from this dump in some way. See you whenever.”

David sighed as he shook his head, tucking the shirt and sweater underneath his arms as he turned. “Have fun, Max. I’ll send Gwen over to check up on you once the activities are done, alright?” There was no proper response as he left the counselor cabin, only to faintly hear a single word uttered by Max as the door swung shut. 

“Thanks.”

It was soft and he almost missed it, but it brought a large smile of his face as he skipped off to drop off the clothes, humming a happy and familiar tone underneath his breath.


End file.
